Myanmar residents barricade metropolis streets as COVID-19 cases rise
13 September, 2020
Some residents of Myanmar's most important city used pieces of wood and corrugated iron to create barricades around their neighbourhoods later on Friday (Sep 11), trying to keep away COVID-19 as the country grapples with another wave of infections.
The Southeast Asian nation has reported a total of 2,625 coronavirus cases and 15 deaths. The quantity of infections possesses quadrupled since mid-August, when the virus resurfaced in the western point out of Rakhine after weeks with out a domestic case.
A lot of the recent conditions have been around in Yangon, the commercial capital and biggest town. Residents started out erecting the makeshift roadblocks to avoid people openly entering and leaving their districts.
Last week, authorities issued stay-at-home orders for residents, and airlines and buses suspended services on and out of the city.
Aung Zaw Min, the principle of a district on Kyimyidaing township who was simply guarding one of the barriers, said residents have been careless about keeping the virus away following the previously low charge of infections.
"We now have to realise we can not underestimate the mass infection caused by Sittwe," he said, discussing Rakhine's talk about capital, where many recent cases were detected.
The barricades were built without permission from native authorities, who swiftly ordered the removal of the biggest barriers, while some were still set up on Saturday.
Some social media users mocked the barricades, joking that the residents had turned city neighbourhoods into "mini republics".
"It's just like the border gate between South and North Korea," said Lu Zaw Oo, position in a road that were sealed off on Saturday. "The barricade is not actually necessary," he added.
Of the 180 new cases reported on Saturday, 124 were in Yangon, medical Ministry said.
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